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This site requests certain information from users. Authorities – This information is requested pursuant to the National and Community Service Act of 1990 as amended (42 USC 12501 et seq.) and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 as amended (42 USC 4950 et seq.). Purposes – It is collected to manage your VISTACampus account, to provide you VISTA resources, and/or so you can help current and prospective VISTAs. Routine Uses – Routine uses of this information may include disclosure to (1) contractors who assist with administering VISTACampus, (2) other individuals with VISTA connections and VISTA Campus accounts, and (3) the public if you post in a Forum available to the public. Effects of Nondisclosure – This request is voluntary, but not providing the information may affect your ability to participate in VISTA and/or use some of the VISTA Campus features.

Colleen Anderson

Colleen Anderson
1970
1971
Eksdale

Original quilters who formed the Cabin Creek Quilts cooperative. From left to right: Stella Monk, Lena Hawkins, Nema Belcher, Ada Thompson, and Vick Haggerty

I joined VISTA in 1970 as a result of that great radio ad: "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem".

I landed in Cabin Creek, West Virginia, where I was privileged to help get Cabin Creek Quilts, a cooperative quilting business, off the ground. It was the perfect assignment for a budding artist and writer, and I loved my work: delivering fabric to quilters in several West Virginia counties, listening to wonderful storytellers, writing and illustrating catalogs and flyers, learning about marketing and designing.

Sometimes I traveled with the quilters to craft shows and sales. My favorite quilter - really, she became a second mother to me - was named Stella Monk. She had a bumper sticker on the back of her truck that read "Thank God I'm a hillbilly." Stella was with me in a motel room in Canton, Ohio the night Richard Nixon resigned. As he spoke, Stella suddenly walked out of the room. I went outside to find her, and said, "Stella, come back and listen! This is history in the making." "Honey," Stella said, "I never could bear to watch a man lie."

Cabin Creek Quilts persisted long after my 15-month stint; in fact, the business lasted for nearly 40 years, providing welcome income for poor quilters all that time. After my time in VISTA, instead of returning to my home state of Michigan, I chose to stay in West Virginia. I had fallen in love with the warmth of the people and the beauty of the landscape. I kept traveling around the state, and eventually I began writing for West Virginia's travel guide, which I continue to do. VISTA brought me to the home of my heart.

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